Eion Colfer has been named Laureate na nOg of Ireland. The title is the highest honor given children’s writer or illustrator in Ireland. Colfer is the third person awarded the title, which he will hold until 2016. Colfer is best known for publishing the Artemis Fowl series.

LASFS Fan David Wayne Keller (b.1961) died on May 7. Keller joined LASFS in 1987 and was also active in Doctor Who fandom, belonging to the Time Meddlers of Los Angeles, where he went by the name “The Brigadier.”

British scientist Colin Pillinger (b.1943) died on May 7. Pillinger was the force behind the Beagle 2 space probe sent to Mars in 2003, although the probe burned up in the Martian atmosphere. Prior to that Pillinger had worked studying samples brought back by Apollo 11.

Astronaut Bill Dana (b.1930) died on May 6. Dana served in the Air Force before joining NASA in 1958. From 1960 through 1962, he was a pilot astronaut in the U.S. Air Force X-20 Dyna-Soar program and eventually flew the X-15 into space in 1966 and 1968, although as a pilot he didn’t receive astronaut wings. NASA eventually gave him his wings in 2005. He remained with NASA in various capacities for several years and is not the comedian of the same name who created astronaut character José Jimenez.

The Speculative Literature Foundation has announced two new grants, the Diverse Writers Grant and the Diverse Worlds Grant. The Diverse Writers Grant is intended to support new and emerging writers from underrepresented and underprivileged groups, including writers of color, women, queer writers, disabled writers, working-class writers, and those whose marginalized identities may present additional obstacles in the writing and/or publishing process. The Diverse Worlds Grant is intended for work that best presents a diverse world, regardless of the writer’s background. Applications for the grants, each of which is for $500, are being accepted through September 15.For more information…

Vernor Vinge will receive a Lifetime Achievement Prometheus Award from the Libertarian Futurist Society. This is only the second Lifetime Achievement Award the organization has presented. Vinge has won the Prometheus Awards on four separate occasions, for his novels Marooned in Realtime and A Deepness in the Sky and the Hall of Fame award for his stories “The Ungoverned” and “True Names.” He will receive the award during Marcon 50, where he will be one of the guests of honor, the weekend of May 8-10.

Artist Dick Ayers (b.1924) died on May 4. Ayers started inking comics in the 1940s and in 1949 co-created Ghost Rider with Ray Krank. After the copyright expired, he re-created a less horror-inspired Ghost Rider for Marvel along side Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich. He went on to ink several covers for Marvel and won the Alley Award for Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandoes. Ayers was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2007.

The nominees for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award have been announced. The Sturgeon for a short story. The award will be presented during the Campbell Conference, to be held June 12-15, 2014 in Lawrence KS.

“Bloom,” by Gregory Norman Bossert

“The Weight of the Sunrise,” by Vylar Kaftan

“They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass,” by Alaya Dawn Johnson

“Over There,” by Will McIntosh

“The Wildfires of Antarctica,” by Alan De Niro

“The Irish Astronaut,” by Val Nolan

“In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind,” by Sarah Pinsker

“Mystic Falls,” by Robert Reed

“Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer,” by Kenneth Scheyer